This month I was speaking with my colleague, Andrea Bonilla, who works as a Social Media Strategist and Trainer. She helps non-profit organizations steer through the realm of social media and determines how to best apply it for their needs. It can be tough navigating which platform to use and without a dedicated staff person, overwhelming. I asked her if she had some insights she could share and Andrea happily delivered.

1. Know your audience. Parents? Women in the 24-40 age range? Grandparents? Knowing who your audience is allows you to pick what network(s) you should focus on (and will improve your overall marketing efforts). Then use your target audience to determine what social media networks you should focus on.
2.  Create a focus. Unless you have one or more staff members solely dedicated to social media, you should focus on one or two social networks and do those well. Create consistency that your audience will want to keep coming back to. Don’t try to experiment and then be inconsistent.
3. Plan, plan, plan. Social media can be time-consuming yet there are many tools that allow you to schedule it (Hootsuite, Buffer, Tweetdeck, SproutSocial to name a few). Research those tools and utilize them. Schedule the majority of your posts and then you’ll need minimal time on a daily basis to check in and/or post last minute newsworthy items.
4. Be visual. Social media is VISUAL. Utilize images and videos that will keep your audience engaged. **Note: please respect copyright laws.
5. Ask for help. Social media is changing every day. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and/or research online as you try to navigate the ropes to best adapt it for your business or organization.